If you’re considering a liberal arts degree, you likely have two main questions: what are the biggest benefits of a liberal arts degree, and what are the post-graduation job opportunities should you choose one of the humanities or social sciences as your undergraduate major?
No one wants to invest the time and money into a degree that doesn’t provide long-term benefits and opportunities to achieve a good position in a chosen field. The good news is that no matter what career you’re interested in pursuing, a liberal arts education will help you build the essential skills necessary to succeed in today’s modern workplace. From critical thinking and deductive reasoning to effective business communication, a bachelor's degree in liberal arts will not only set you up to break into a variety of different field.
What You Get From a Liberal Arts Education
Although there are many benefits of a liberal arts education, there are some that stand out more than others. Here we highlight five key benefits of a liberal arts education.
1. A chance to explore the human experience
An endlessly fascinating educational approach that has evolved over hundreds of years, a liberal arts education will allow you to explore a variety of academic areas—from science to literature—and to develop interdisciplinary insight into the human experience from multiple perspectives.
2. An opportunity to pursue a variety of career options
The range of topics, approaches, and areas covered by your liberal arts curriculum makes you fundamentally flexible, interdisciplinary, and able to adapt to changing circumstances. As you grow and evolve, you may find that what you want to pursue career-wise shifts. You might get into a profession only to find it isn’t the right fit for you. A liberal arts degree allows you to keep your career options open, as you will be trained in a variety of transferable skills, rather than just one specific skill set. Use this adaptability to help potential employers see your broad skillset as an asset rather than a liability.
3. The skills to hone critical thinking
If you like the idea of an open-ended education without limits, you’ll appreciate the opportunity to explore your interests, satisfy your curiosity, solve complex problems, and spark your creativity through a liberal arts program. Rather than focusing on building a particular technical or specific professional skillset, liberal arts classes typically provide in-depth knowledge about how a particular subject or approach impacts both the individual and the collective, which becomes applicable in a variety of professions across fields.
4. Gain a multidisciplinary perspective
The variety of liberal arts subjects allows you to learn about a wide range of ideas, each of which will better help you discover your personal interests, strengths, and potential career paths. This can be perfect for our global economy, as you will be exploring different philosophies, cultures, and human experiences that can broaden your worldview and provide you with a valued perspective sought out by today’s global companies.
5. Learn how to think differently
As you grow and evolve, you may find that what you want to pursue career-wise shifts. You might get into a profession only to find it isn’t the right fit for you. A great benefit of a liberal arts degree is that you can translate what you’ve studied into many different areas. Any major within the liberal arts will help you develop critical thinking, research, and communication skills. These capabilities are in high demand from employers, who often find these assets difficult to teach, and more valuable in the long-term, helping to protect liberal arts majors from changing economic conditions, ensuring ongoing demand and an implied measure of job security. If a job calls for cross-functional collaboration, independent thinking and analysis, effective communication with different stakeholder groups, and other common yet business-critical capabilities that can’t be measured using numbers and spreadsheets, don’t be afraid to sell yourself while highlighting these skills.
Liberal Arts Education Career Opportunities
Employers need creative team members who can adapt, contribute, and help to solve complex problems, and a liberal arts degree can give you the tools necessary to succeed. Remember that as the job market evolves and new skills and ways of thinking are required, your well-rounded education and a solid background in critical thinking can adapt to meet the needs of the new market.
Some possible liberal arts career opportunities can include:
- Writer and Author
- News Analyst
- Reporter and Journalist
- Editor
- Recreation WorkeP
- Public Relations Specialist
- Manager
Majoring in a liberal arts field can and does lead to successful and remunerative careers in a wide array of professions.
